New Delhi : The Uttar Pradesh Government plans to shortly issue a set of faecal sludge and septage management guidelines to 653 urban local bodies (ULBs) in the state. The guidelines for managing faecal sludge and septage in cities of Uttar Pradesh have been prepared by New Delhi-based thinktank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

Uttar Pradesh Principal Secretary (Department of Urban Development) Manoj Kumar Singh said recently that the guidelines will be issued and the State Government hoped they will help the ULBs in faecal sludge and septage management (FSSM).

Under partnership with the State government, CSE will support the Department of Urban Development in improving the capacity of the state and its ULBs in planning, designing and implementation of interventions across the sanitation value chain for effective septage management and for preparing city sanitation plans.

This will include technical support for pilot intervention in a few towns and cities, monitoring and research required to identify barriers and solutions for scaling up interventions required for achieving city-wide sanitation.

CSE has selected Bijnor and Chunar as its target model towns for a pilt project. It has also agreed to provide technical support to for developing a pilot project (in and around Lucknow) for showcasing cost-effective co-treatment of faecal sludge and septage at existing sewage treatment plants (STPs) and dedicated faecal sludge and septage treatment plants.

“According to the national policy on FSSM released by the Union Ministry of Urban Development, every state in India has to develop guidelines and provide technical, financial and administrative support to ULBs and encourage coordination and cooperation among ULBs", said CSE programme director (water management) Suresh Rohilla.

H“States also need to regulate and help ULBs set up systems to ensure financial sustainability in provision of FSSM services and implement municipal by-laws, create enabling environment for participation of NGOs and CSOs in provision of FSSM services (including to the poor and marginalised households and areas), and support-develop state-level FSSM strategy and implementation plans, research and capacity building as well as monitoring and evaluation capabilities", Rohilla added.

According to a 2015 report of the Central Pollution Control Board, Uttar Pradesh has 73 sewage treatment plants (STPs) with a cumulative treatment capacity of 2646.84 million litre per day (MLD). Seven of these STPs (89.59 MLD) are non-operational, three (cumulative capacity 170 MLD) are under construction, and one STP (15 MLD) has been proposed.

CSE has pointed out that a faecal waste flow diagram (often referred to as ‘SFD’) based on the 2011 Census shows that 86.73 per cent of the untreated excreta in the state either enters water bodies or is disposed of in agricultural lands or the domestic environment.

“This poses a huge risk to public health and the environment at large,” said Rohilla.

The collaboration between CSE and UP will help in strengthening the ongoing efforts towards reducing pollution in the Ganga, by allowing disposal and co-treatment of faecal sludge and septage in all existing and upcoming STPs and faecal sludge treatment plants where no STPs exist in towns and cities across the state, he added.

Water is one of the world’s gravest risks, according to the Global Risks Report published earlier this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos. And the situation is actually worse than it might seem at first glance.